Just Another Day In Paradise

Summer {2011} Fun

2011-07-08T21:12:00.000-06:00

Pink Island Surf Bedroom {Updates}

2011-07-04T21:00:00.000-06:00

Three years ago we painted Arielle's bedroom blue. Since then I have replaced her bed, added a desk, redesigned her closet and rearranged her furniture a few times. The retro desk and chair makeover inspired me to make a couple of more small changes. I liked the fabric that I used to recover the chair pad so much that I bought more and made curtain holdbacks and a curtain for her armoire. It is nice to see splashes of this fun, colorful fabric throughout the room!

The curtain for the armoire was completed in a few simple steps. First I ironed and sewed the raw edges on the side of the fabric that I had pre-measured to fit the armoire opening. I left the width a couple inches wider than the armoire so it would have a little bit of ruffling. Next, I ironed and sewed up the top of the curtain leaving a one inch pocket for a tension rod to fit through. Lastly, I ironed and sewed the bottom hem. It was a very easy sewing project but could have been completed without sewing as well using a hot glue gun and/or iron-on hem tape.

To make the curtain holdbacks I cut four strips of fabric approximately 4 inches wide by 12 inches long. Next, I ironed and sewed the edges up then hand-stitched buttons to close the holdbacks up. It was really easy to do!

One of my favorite things about this room is the closet. Since Arielle's furniture is quite large I wanted to free up more space in her room so I decied to removed the closet doors and put her dresser in the closet. I found the white beadboard shelves at a garage sale and hung all three of the side by side above the dresser. I also added track shelving on the side of the close for additional storage. Lastly, I hung sheer panels from a shower curtain rod so we could hide the clutter at any time.

I am looking forward to making big-girl updates to Averi's room eventually!

{Retro} Desk and Chair Makeover

2011-06-26T21:47:00.006-06:00

Arielle's desk makeover is complete and I am so happy with how it turned out! You can see a before picture of the desk here, however I forgot to take a before picture of the chair.

It took several coats of paint to cover the desk after we primed it and sanded it. The color is Fairaway Mist by Behr and I chose this color because it matches one of the several colors in Arielle's quilt which is from the Pottery Barn Pink Island Surf collection.

After much debate about which hardware I was going to get for the desk make-over I am glad I chose the satin nickel bin pulls that match Arielle's silver daybed frame.

I bought the frame for the magnet board at Goodwill for $5.99 and cut up some leftover sheet metal from another magnet board that I made. Arielle and I made the seashell magnets today. It was fun and easy to do!

I purchased the chair at Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store for $2.99 and it was in really bad shape. It was dark wood, required a couple of pieces to be glued together and the ugly old dirty fabric was ripping apart. There is a stamp on the bottom of the chair that states "1965" so it's old but in overall good condition.

To makoever the chair, I removed the chair seat, sanded the chair and gave it three coats of spray paint. I distressed it heavily for the final touches so that it would fit in more with the beach theme of Arielle's room and also hide a few blemishes. I had never recovered a chair before so I didn't know what to expect but it was really easy. I found the fabric at JoAnn's and thought it was perfect!

I even purchased extra fabric to makeover Arielle's bright pink curtains so that they will match her new chair. I love the fabric so much that I couldn't resist even if it involves some sewing because I know it will be worth it. I will post the rest of the room when the curtains are finished.

Linky Love: The Shabby Nest ~ Frugal Friday, Just A Girl ~ Show and Share Day, Tip Junkie ~ Homemade Projects, The Shabby Chic Cottage ~ Transformation Thursdays, Just A Girl ~ Show and Share Day, Thrifty Decor Chick ~ Before & After Goodwill Party

Go Ra Rocks!

2011-06-17T21:09:00.000-06:00

Ra Rocks is what Averi calls the Rockies. Last weekend we went to a game and had a great time.

Arielle and Cayla...BFF's!

Arielle loves cotton candy!

Averi didn't go to the game but she stayed home and spent quality time with Grandmom and Grandpop. Here is a picture of her in her "new" vintage desk that I picked up at a garage sale for $5.

Furniture makeover in the works...

2011-06-13T12:27:00.001-06:00

Here is the cute little desk that I got for Arielle's kindergareten graduation present. I found it on Craigslist for $40 (the owner was asking $60 obo and took my first offer)! It is solid wood, clean and in very good condition.

We have already removed the old hardware, sanded it down, primed it and bought the paint to make it over. All that is left is to find new hardware and apply two coats of fresh paint. The color that Arielle chose is Fairaway Mist by Behr. It is a lighter shade of green that I think will work really well in her bedroom.

These are the bin pulls that I am considering buying for the drawers. What do you think?

Beachy Guest Room {Updates}

2011-06-07T21:39:00.001-06:00

I have been updating our beachy guest room over the past several months because I want it to feel bright and airy like a hotel room in the tropics. The only item I knew for sure that I wanted to leave in the room was the sea shell and coral quilt on the bed because I just love the look of it. I also didn't want to paint it because we don't have a lot of time on our hands so I tried to add color in other ways. A lot of projects that I have posted on this blog have contributed to this room's makeover.

I started by changing out the throw pillows and curtains. The curtains went from heavy green twill panels to brown linen panels that I found on clearance at Lowe's for $10 each. The linen let's the light in but you can still keep the lights out by closing the blinds. I replaced the throw pillows with my tropical pillow slipcovers on the bed which give the room a much needed pop of color! Then I painted my brown wooden cube shelf a light shade of blue and distressed it. Of course I changed my tablescape on the shelf as well. I added glass objects because the glass reflects the light and some shells because they go with the beach theme.

My floral fabric lampshade cover was a great addition to the room as well! Next I replaced the glass and metal nightsand that matched the headboard with a round pedestal side table that I painted white. I like how the mis-matched furniture makes the room feel relaxing and casual. I also changed out the wall art above the headboard to a set of four tropical prints in frames that I painted white.

The walls on each side of the windows used to have matching palm tree sconces but they were too dark for the new look so I replaced them with framed shell art that I made above a white ceramic tray. I am still trying to find something to hang on the other side of the wall but nothing that I have tried so far looks right. {I realized while posting this blog that I do not have a picture of this spot in the room so I just quickly snapped one. It's really out of focus and boring but you get the idea}.

All that is remaining to be updated is the light brown wicker chair that doesn't match anything else in the room. I'm pretty sure that I am going to paint it white and distress it so it looks old and beachy. The dark brown leather storage ottoman will be the only remaining dark object in the room but I don't mind. I think it will help balance the room out with the brown curtains. I may consider making a slipcover for it to cover up but it will take finding perfect fabric to get me motivated!

I'll update my blog when the room is completely finished...

Girls Bathroom {Painted} Gray

2011-05-30T21:06:00.002-06:00

This weekend we took on an unexpected painting project! We decided to paint the newly redecorated girls bathroom. Paint was on sale and the room is so small that we thought it would be a great little project to tackle over the weekend. I am so glad we did it because the feeling in the room is so much more calm, crisp and airy.

The color we chose a light shade of gray and it is called "Quiet Rain" by Behr. Whever I paint a room this small I always paint the ceiling to make it feel more cohesive.

I love the pop of color from the aqua blue wall hooks. I got both baskets from Goodwill for $1.99 each and although I love how they match the wood tone of the vanity but I am thinking about spray painting them aqua blue to match the hooks. What would you do?

Princess in Training

2011-05-25T21:23:00.001-06:00

The very first princess dress-up that we bought for Arielle has been handed down to her baby sister, Averi. When we bought this Mermaid costume for Arielle she was two and half and it was a little big on her. Averi is 19 months and it fits her very well. She is ALL belly!

Arielle is graduating from Kindergarten in two weeks...I can hardly believe it!

Pedestal Table {Nightstand} Makeover

2011-05-24T20:45:00.003-06:00

I really wanted a white round nightstand for our beachy guest room makeover so when I found this one on craigslist for $10 I knew I could make it work. I'm so glad I finally took the time to do this makeover because it gave this room new life. All it took was a good sanding {thanks to my helpful husband for doing this part for me}, three coats of white semi-gloss paint and it was done!

I'll reveal the rest of the room later this week...

~Linky Love~The Shabby Chic Cottage~The Shabby Nest~

Girls {Thrifty} Bathroom Makeover

2011-04-21T21:20:00.001-06:00

My girls' bathroom is small...very small...it is one of my least favorite things about our house. It makes it hard now that there are two of them brushing their teeth every night and taking baths together but we make due with what we have. When we moved in nearly five years ago I had a flip-flop, beachy theme in there with a very colorful, vertical striped shower curtain. I liked it but was ready for a change.

When I saw this pretty shower curtain I knew immediately it was perfect for my bathroom makeover. I got the Family Rules Subway Art from MellisaJane's Etsy shop. It was just the right color blue to match the shower curtain and I love the rules that she put on it.

The set of three royal crown wall hooks were ebay purchases and I was a little bit dissapointed when I got them because the listing said they were white but they are not even close to that. They are actually the same color beige as my walls so they are hardly noticeable. I plan on spray painting them either bright white or light blue but at least they are hung up for now and functional. The third hook is on the wall directly across from the shower curtain next to the mirrored medicine cabinet but I couldn't get any good pictures of that side of the bathroom.

The accessories on top of the bathroom cabinet were from around the house and I especially love the hurricane glass jar full of travel size toiletries that I have picked up from various hotels.

Here's the cost breakdown:

Shower curtain - $10 with coupon at JC Penney's
Family Rules Subway Art sign - $56 splurge for me but it's one-of-a-kind
Set of 3 Cast Iron Wall Hooks - $27 on ebay
Bath Mat & Toothbrush Holder - $10 at Ross

Total Cost of Makeover - $103

The nice thing about a small bathroom is the low cost to decorate it!

***Linky Love*** The Shabby Nest ~ Frugal Friday

Averi ~ 18 months

2011-04-20T22:12:00.000-06:00

In the past six months Averi has changed...a lot! She is still so cheerful and easy-going but very fiesty. One of her favorite things is getting her shoes and coat on to go places. She picks her own shoes out and insists on zipping her coat up every time. Averi started walking at 15 months but before that she was climbing up stairs. Now that she is walking she doesn't like to climb up stairs...go figure. She has learned how to do several picture puzzles, knows lots of animals, parts of the body and some colors. Averi is definitely behind her sister in the speech department but she still manages to communicate really well with signs and pointing. Some new words that she has learned are no, yes, eyes, milk, socks (pronounced ox), please (pronounced eezsh), down and Dora (all because of Dora's Halloween Adventure book). We read stories every night while Averi sits on her froggy chair then we turn out the lights, turn on the Cloud B ladybug nightlight and say goodnight to everything in her room. When I say, "I love you" she thinks that means that she needs to kiss me so she puts her cheek up to my lips. Averi prefers walking over being carried practically everywhere we go and she doesn't want you to hold her hand. This is especially difficult when we are crossing the street. I just love her independant spirit and mild-mannered attitude! One thing you can count on is that she always wants what her sister has but Arielle usually doesn't mind. She is a kind and helpful big sister and I can tell they love each other so much. It makes my heart melt.

Arielle is six!

2011-04-20T21:50:00.001-06:00

My baby girl turned 6 years old earlier this month. She wanted me to pick the theme for her birthday and surprise her so I chose a Pajama Party! The girls (and one boy) had a pajama fashion show and each one got an award.

Birthday girl holding her cousin, Flat Ty!

Little sister enjoying the balloons!

Each girl got to decorate pillow cases with strips of ribbon. This was a great craft and thankfully I had a couple extra set of hands to help me iron them on with no-sew hem tape. There were a lot of little girls running around the house that day...perhaps too many which I will remember in future years.

It was a lovely birthday party! A couple of girls left with tears in their eyes because they didn't want to go home.

Spring has sprung!

2011-04-17T21:23:00.000-06:00

Hello blog...nice to see you again! I still blame my job for not seeing you in the past four months but now that Spring is here, I am making time for you no matter what. I have not had an outlet for all of the stress that work has put on me and I need to blog to help release some of this negative energy.

This past weekend I started redecorating the girls' {tiny} bathroom. We had the beach theme for the past five years and I am over it! I'll make the reveal as soon as my internet orders show up. Here are the purchases that I made:

Stay tuned...

It wouldn't be Christmas without...

2011-01-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

A picture of a crying baby on Santa's lap...

I had a feeling that Averi wasn't going to like Santa this year. Arielle was afraid up until a year ago when she was four.

A little bit of Christmas

2011-01-03T21:16:00.001-07:00

I like how my Christmas mantle turned out this year {with the exception of the orange candles which I didn't find time to replace}.

I finished my Christmas Advent Calendar just a few days before December 1st. It was totally worth the time it took to make it from scratch. I used Carrie's idea but modge-podged every square inch of the box and lid. We filled it with Squinkees and Christmas themed candy this year. Arielle loved it!

I let Arielle put the ornaments on the tree all by herself but found that many of them were placed too close together (you can tell by looking at the picture below) so after she went to bed I reorganized them.

We always get good pics while waiting in line to see Santa at the mall!

Goodbye, Sierra

2010-12-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today we had to say goodbye to our loving dog, Sierra. She had a wonderful life and lived to the ripe old age of 13 so we don't have any regrets. We will all miss her very much and still can't believe that she is not here with us.

You will always be in our hearts, Sierra!

Family Pictures ~ Fall 2010

2010-11-19T15:40:00.001-07:00

Halloween Fun!

2010-11-01T21:55:00.001-06:00

I always love our annual visits to the Pumpkin Patch because of all the great photo opportunities! The weather was great (it's been unusually warm this Fall) but the wind started to pick up so I pulled the shade down on Averi's stroller. A few minutes later I looked down to check on her and realized that she was peering out from under the shade with her head sideways...it was so funny so of course we snapped a picture!

We created a Frankenstein jack-o-lantern which turned out pretty cute for being designed by a five year old! Arielle actually helped me clean the pumpkin guts out this year...with a spoon {she and Zak think the guts are the most disgusting thing ever!}.

This year Arielle dressed up as a "Pink Pirate" and she was very excited to wear real makeup (eyeshadow and blush). This was the first year that Averi dressed up and she was the most adorable ladybug ever! Except she hated wearing the hat so that only lasted for the five minutes that we tried to get a "good" picture of her wearing it.

We went trick-or-treating with Arielle's BFF from school. Averi went too and she enjoyed every minute of it. She kept pointing to the houses and babbling from her stroller. I think she had just as much fun as the older kids :-) Arielle decided that each house with their porch lights on was "in business" so she kept telling her friend, "It looks like this one's in business!" Zak finally told her that it is actually "open for business" but it was really funny while it lasted.

Averi's First Birthday Party

2010-10-22T21:03:00.001-06:00

Averi ~ 12 months (ONE YEAR)!

2010-10-22T20:53:00.001-06:00

***This post is long overdue but things have been crazy lately between a new project at work that I am managing and a ten day vacation to Florida***

Averi turned one year old on October 2, 2010!

We took her in for her checkup just a few days later and she weighed 23 lbs, 10 ozs. Her first birthday party was a very fun for her, especially the cake eating part! A couple of days after that we jetted off to Florida for our annual Siesta Key Beach vacation at Gaby and Tee's. I can't wait to post pics of both events...

Here are some of her milestones at 12 months:

-Averi is crawling around like crazy and pulling herself up very easily. She is not showing any signs of walking yet but that is okay by me because I love how she is all baby!

-Still wearing size 18-24 month clothes and size 4 diapers but she has thinned out a lot in the past month.

-She has five teeth and we started brushing them before bed every night. She loves the toothbrush but I can't get her to close her teeth so I can clean the front of them well enough.

-Averi doesn't say much other than MAMA, DADA and DOG-DOG (I don't know why she says it twice but she always does). I think she says SISTER too but it's very hard to tell. She is lot further behind in the language department than Arielle was at this age.

-She shakes her head YES and NO and points to things she wants all the time and says "EH" or "DAT" or "DIS". She also waves hi and bye and waves at herself with both hands when she wants you to give her something.

-She is off the bottle and only drinks from sippy cups. She drinks well from open cups at school which is a requirement to move into the one year room (so is walking). She tolerates cows milk well and loves to drink it!

-Averi got her first ear infection this month probably due to the same crud that she and I have been fighting off for the past couple of months :-( We found this out the day before Arielle's ear tube and adenoid removal surgery.

-Averi sleeps well at night usually between 7:30 pm to 6:00 am. She naps once a day for 1.5 to 2 hours, sometimes more if she is at home and the house is quiet.

-Her hair is getting so long and staying so blonde! She gets a lot of compliments on her beautiful, big, blue eyes.

-She knows how to kiss now but still most often with her mouth open a little bit. She gives high fives too! Another way she likes to show affection is to head-butt!

-Her and Arielle enjoy taking baths together regularly which is great because it saves us a lot of time in the evenings. Averi is getting used to her sister's ways which most of the time are very sweet and thoughtful but sometimes Arielle gets a little jealous and possessive of her things (naturally) and isn't afraid to let Averi know. Averi hardly cries when Arielle takes stuff away from her...she just gives her a look like "Whatever crazy girl"!

-Some of her favorite things to do are look at and touch dogs, play with the dishes in the cupboards, empty containers and put everything away, play with her stacking cups, crawl through stuff like tunnels, open and close doors (she'll even close the baby gate whenever someone leaves it open-thank goodness!), crawl as fast as she can into the bathroom so she can stand up at the toilet and tub because she is fascinated by water.

-Some of her dislikes are waiting for her food, when mommy leaves the room and sitting still or sleeping on airplanes (she cried for the entire last hour of the flight home which in retrospect might have been because she has an ear infection but we thought it was because she didn't take a nap-maybe it was both.

-Speaking of water, Averi did have an incident with the bathtub which thankfully did not have water in it. She leaned over to get a toy out and fell in when mommy wasn't looking. She cried and had a bump on her forehead but was fine. Our tub is plastic, not porcelain so it wasn't as bad as it sounds.

-Lastly, Averi had her first trip to the ER while we were in Florida. The chair that she was strapped into tipped backwards and we thought there was a chance she hit her head on the tile floor (even though there was no physical evidence that she had). We didn't want to chance it so they did a cat scan and fortunately everything was fine!

A Poll: Guest Room Nighstand Color Dilemma

2010-09-20T16:01:00.001-06:00

I am in the process of redecorating our guest room. Everything will be changing except the bed frame and linens. I already made over the cube shelf that is used as one nightstand in the room. I purchased this round pedestal end table on craigslist for $10 to replace the existing nightstand that is in the room. The current nightstand matches the bed frame perfectly but that is one problem and the fact that it is glass is another problem. I used to have a passion for glass furniture but now that I have kids I don't like it in my house for obvious reasons. I want this room to feel beachy, fresh and airy when I am done with it.

All of that being said, what color do you think I should paint the new nightstand?

Please vote in my poll.

Floral {Lamp} Shade Makeover

2010-09-19T21:14:00.002-06:00

I have seen a lot of lampshade makeovers and thought they were such a great idea so I decided to make my own. I used a lamp shade that I already had and purchased a yard of designer's fabric from Jo-Ann for $7.

Here is my lamp shade before the makeover:

I thought this was going to be an easy project because of one reason; I thought the lampshade was "Drum" shaped but it turns out that it is slightly "Bell" shaped. I discovered this after I already cut the fabric so needless to say I did not make a template as I should have. The result of this is that the line where the fabric meets in the back is slightly diagonal and the fabric doesn't lie flat against the lampshade in some areas. What should have taken me about a half hour to do took one and half hours. Ultimately the shade ended up looking pretty good and I was able to hide the bad spots because the lamp is in the corner of our living room. I do have enough fabric leftover to perfect my shade cover but I am going to hold off until I find a good deal on new shade.

The only supplies I used were a hot glue gun, scissors, measuring tape and iron. First I measured the height and length of my lampshade and cut my fabric so that the length was two inches longer and the height was one inch longer. Next, I folded the raw edges of the fabric by half an inch and ironed them down then I hot glued the seams together.

When I was done with this step my fabric looked like this:

Lastly, I matched the fabric up to the top and bottom of the shade and hot glued it around the edges. Like I said, this would have been super-EASY if the shade was perfectly drum shaped but since it had a slight taper and was a bit bell shaped I should have created a pattern first.

To see what this lamp base looked like before my makeover click here.

***LINKY PARTIES***Today's Creative Blog***

A Note to Averi from Arielle

2010-09-16T08:27:00.000-06:00

This note that Arielle wrote to Averi {on Averi's new chalkboard table} is so sweet. It fills my heart with joy to know that Arielle loves her little sister!

Translation:

"Averi, I want to thank you for being a good sister"

Thrift Frame Makeover ~ {Shell} Art

2010-09-15T20:49:00.008-06:00

I had leftover paint from my beachy cube shelf makeover so I decided to transform a picture frame that I bought at Goodwill for $3. It was black but I wanted to brighten it up and use it in my guest room makeover that is still a work-in-process!

I had this beautiful shell that fit perfectly inside my new blue frame. First I cut a piece of fabric and spray-glued it to the picture frame backing. Then I applied the shell to the fabric with 3M heavy duty foam mounting tape. I love my new framed shell art and the fact that it only cost a few dollars!

I still have about a quart of my custom-made paint left over so I may have another makeover in the works!

***LINKY PARTIES***The Shabby Chic Cottage***Paisley Passions***Just A Girl***

Kids {Chalkboard} Table

2010-09-12T21:57:00.009-06:00

Did I mention how much I love chalkboard paint?!?! If you have been reading my blog than you know that I am additcted to this stuff. A good friend of mine, Michelle, gave Arielle a kids table and chairs which Arielle loved and she used for more than three years until she outgrew it. I decided to make it over so that we can use it in Averi's room as soon as we no longer have a need for the rocking chair that is in there now. For the makeover, I finished the top of the table with chalkboard paint and the rest of it with Sweet Pea {pink} by Rustoleum in a satin finish. I wasn't able to paint the chairs because they need some minor repairs that we haven't done yet. I might even replace them if I can find different ones that are in better shape.

I am so happy with how the table looks now and wish I had done it sooner!

BEFORE

AFTER

I can't wait for Averi to start enjoying her new chalkboard table! She has just started pulling herself up onto things {tonight was the first time I found her standing in her crib} so it won't be long. This table is going to go great in Averi's pink and green bedroom.

***LINKY PARTIES***Today's Creative Blog***The Shabby Chic Cottage***Paisley Passions***Just A Girl***

Laundry Room {Wall} Art

2010-09-10T21:03:00.005-06:00

I finally got around to making some wall art for my newly painted laundry room. It was free, quick and extremely easy to make. I had a large white frame with matting that I got at a thrift store closing sale and I was itching to use it somewhere in the house. So I went through my pile of scrapbook paper and found a piece that had bright colors and a busy pattern. I wanted my new art to pop since the walls in the laundry room are dark. The new wall art is perfect for the space!

***LINKY PARTIES***The Shabby Chic Cottage***Just A Girl***

Averi ~ 11 months & Arielle ~ First Day of Kindergarten

2010-09-09T20:20:00.002-06:00

Averi is 11 months old!

Here are some updates:

-Her scooting turned into actual CRAWLING on her hands and knees on the day she turned 11 months old and she is getting quicker as the days go by! We installed a gate on the main level that blocks her from the basement and upper level stairs. We still need to install one upstairs but for now we just constantly watch her when we are up there.

-She is still drinking about 22 ounces of formula a day (2 bottles and 2 sippy cups). She doesn't like to finish her sippy cups at home for some reason but I'm told that at school she drinks it all up! She is starting to drink small amounts from an open cup at school as well and doing a very good job of it. The ladies at school even took a picture of her doing it for me.

-Averi is still eating practically everything in sight but now she is doing some funny stuff when she eats! She likes to sort out her food, especially if I mix veggies with it. She'll pick them up one by one and put them in her cupholder or drop them on the floor. She'll eventually eat them (if she hasn't thrown them on the floor) if they are the only thing left on her plate. She really doesn't like it when I try to feed her because she wants to do it herself but sometimes she'll let me feed her yogurt.

-Still taking one 2 hour nap at school but taking two naps at home on the weekends. This allows us more flexibility for getting stuff done on the weekends. She definitely sleeps better at home than she does at school.

-Bedtime is still between 7-7:30. She is now sleeping with a receiving blanket AND her froggy stuffed blanket. She gets a 6 ounce bottle at bedtime and doesn't cry at all when I put her down if she is tired. I'm going to cut that bottle out when she starts drinking real milk and there will be no more bottles for Averi. She almost always wakes up at 6 am and talks to herself in her crib until I get her out at 6:15.

-She is wearing 18 to 24 month clothes but since she started crawling in the past week she has started noticeably slimming down. She no longer has "knee rolls" and her "back rolls" are starting to dissapear also.

-She is starting to try to pull herself up onto things but is not very steady at all and always has one of her feet turned sideways when she is standing.

-Averi loves holding stuff in her hands, especially bouncy balls and plastic eggs! She is very good at playing ball too. Some other things she loves are splashing in the bath (a lot), playing peek-a-boo, swinging on the playground, chasing the dogs, BITING (trying to nip this one in the bud but she thinks it's hilarious when she bites and I say "no"), kissing with her mouth wide open which usually turns into biting.

-Averi doesn't like having stuff taken away from her at all! Or waiting for her food while she sits in her high chair. These two things make her cry...a lot. She also gets pretty fussy when she is tired at which point she tosses her head back and if she is sitting on the floor she'll bring her forehead to the ground and cry.

-Funniest thing she does is say "DOG DOG" whenever she hears someone calling for the dogs (which means she knows their names) or when she sees one of them. She isn't really saying any other words at this point other than Mama, Dada and Ball. I thought for a while she was saying Sister but I'm not certain of it now. She sure does like to babble a lot though especially in the car!

********************************************************************************
Arielle started Kindergarten!

-She hurt her big toe the first day of school, on the second day she fell on the rocks and got a big bruise on her thigh and a cut on her elbow and on the third day she bumped her head and got a big bump and bruise. Other than that things are going well and she is really enjoying it! Tonight she did her first "Grouch" homework page.

-Arielle has been writing her own stories lately and she LOVES to read books. We have been going to the new library down the road so she can get a variety of books to read.

-Her "boy" friend Levi from Pre-K didn't move up to Kindergarten but she still gets to see him when they are playing outside. I wonder how long it will be before she gets a new crush in the Kindergarten class!

Time seems to be flying by soooo fast...

~Desiree~

Beachy {Cube} Shelf Makeover

2010-09-07T21:28:00.013-06:00

The playroom makeover has been put on hold until I can actually take pictures without toys scattered all over the floor! Seriously, I am not complaining because I am so happy that my girls are finally enjoying the space but keeping it clean is a whole different story. Fortunately I was able to complete another project this weekend which I have been waiting four years to do. I got inspired to do this project from seeing some pretty furniture makeovers at a couple of my favorite blogs, Nikki's Nacs and From House to Home.

This is my completed project:

Four years ago I purchased the cube shelf that I am using as a nightstand in our beach guest room from a furniture clearance outlet for $20 and have been wanting to paint it ever since. I decided to do this makeover project at the last minute and didn't want to spend any more money than I had to. Since I already had some blue paint left over from painting our master bedroom and bathroom I decided to mix my own color. The blue is called Ocean Kiss from Behr and I mixed it about half and half with Wishiper White from Glidden which is the color of the trim in our house. The only thing I had to purchase for this project was a quart of primer and a roller so the total spent was $10.

First, I sanded the cube shelf down with my mouse sander to get a smooth finish all over. Then I painted two coats of Kilz primer and waited for it to dry before I painted two coats of my newly created color blue. I could have unscrewed the shelves in the middle since they were held together with small brackets but I was too lazy so I just painted over the hardware. After the paint was dry I was ready to distress it. I used my mouse sander again to really get through the layers of paint and concentrated more on sanding the edges. I love how the primer shows through in some spots and in other spots it's worn down to the wood. It looks like this is a piece of really old furniture that has been worn over time which is exactly what I was trying to do.

The brown linen curtains and lamp shade are new purchases for this room. I plan on redecorating the rest of the room as well with handmade wall art and a wicker chair makeover.

***LINKY PARTIES***The Shabby Nest***Today's Creative Blog***The Shabby Chic Cottage***Crazy Domestic***Just A Girl***Tatertots and Jello***Paisley Passions***Cottage Instincts***

A Letter to the Tooth Fairy

2010-09-03T15:23:00.005-06:00

Arielle lost her first baby tooth about a month ago and I mean that literally. She was on a field trip and tried to open her pudding with her and teeth which made the tooth fall out. Apparently everyone including her teachers looked for the tooth but it was nowhere to be found. At the suggestion of one of her teachers, Arielle wrote this letter to the Tooth Fairy explaining why she did not have her tooth to put under her pillow {or in her tooth pillow that hangs from her bed post as the case may be}:

Her spelling is pretty good for being five and not getting any help but for those of you who need a translation here it is:

Dear Tooth Fairy,

My tooth fell out and I'm not sure if you know or not or if you saw or not and I hope you know.

Love,

Arielle

The letter worked and the Tooth Fairy left Arielle a very generous amount of $5!

Good thing I remembered to take a picture of the letter before the Tooth Fairy took it away ;-)

Here is a picture of Arielle with her newly missing tooth. She has three more loose teeth on the bottom and her new one has already grown almost in full!

~Desiree~

A BIG Memo Board

2010-09-01T21:20:00.003-06:00

The memo board is complete and I love how it turned out! We haven't hung it up in the playroom yet but as soon as we do I'll reveal the playroom decor makeover.

I made this memo board from scratch using a large framed poster that someone had given to me {as usual I forgot to take a before photo}. The frame started out black so I spray painted it white. It took several coats which totaled two cans of spray paint. I purchased the fabric and ribbon from Jo-Ann's and already had the batting on hand {leftover from my days of quilting which I miss}. I cut the batting and fabric so that it would fit around the foam poster board that I had removed from the frame before I painted it. Next I wrapped the fabric over the batting around the edges of the poster board, making sure to work my way from the center out to the corners on each side {this prevents wrinkling of the fabric}. I used thumb-tacks to adhere the fabric and batting to the poster board but when I finished I ended up going around the entire thing with staples. The ribbon was little more difficult and would be rather difficult to explain but I'll give it a shot. First Zak did some math that I haven't thought about since high school {A squared plus B squared equals C squared} then we started stapling ribbon around the edges of the poster board using a ruler and checking our measurements often. We did 3 inches in between each ribbon. When we were done attaching the ribbon I went around the back of the board again and applied a TON more staples for extra security. Lastly, I put packing tape all around the back of the board to cover the staples and thumb-tacks.

Here is a breakdown of the costs to make the memo board:

-BIG poster frame and board = $0

-2 cans of spray paint = $9

-1 yard of fabric = $5

-1 yard of batting = $0

-2 spools of ribbon = $4

Total cost to make BIG memo board = $18

***LINKY PARTIES***The Shabby Chic Cottage***Today's Creative Blog***The Shabby Nest***

~Desiree~

Sneak Peek: Memo Board

2010-08-30T08:22:00.005-06:00

I am in the process of making a large memo board for the big empty wall in the newly made-over craft secion of the playroom! A memo board is perfect because it will add a lot of color to the room and be able to hold lots of photos and art work! I was inspired to make a memo board because someone gave me a large poster frame that I couldn't find a use for anywhere else in my house. Unfortunately I ran out of ribbon before we could finish making the memo board last night but here is a sneak peek:

I also spent some time redecorating the other walls and shelves in the playroom so there will be more of a cohesive theme in the room instead of a hodge-podge of decor. I hope to reveal the makeover in it's entirety within the next couple of weeks!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Scrapbook Paper Wall Art

2010-08-25T08:18:00.011-06:00

Scrapbook paper is such an inexpensive, easy and fun way to creat wall art for any room in the house. I purchased a package of Nana's Kids paper with Glitter at the craft store for $10 and got started on wall art for the new craft area section of the playroom.

For my first project, I wanted to use frames that I already had which just so happen to be from Pottery Barn. All I did was cut up some pieces of matching paper to fill in the spaces where photos go in the frames. The new wall art is now resting on the top craft shelf {I can't decide if I am going to hang them above the shelves or leave them on the shelves}.

For my next wall art project, I had this wooden plaque that is square with beveled edges and is almost exactly the size of scrapbook paper. It when I saw it at a garage sale for fifty cents I knew instantly that I was going to use Modge Podge to make wall art with it. First, I spraypainted the edges white. Next, I found a cute alphabet themed piece of paper in my new pack that incorporated all of the colors in the playroom. Finally, I trimmed it up so it fit on the plaque then I Modge-Podged the front and back. Now all I have to do is attach a hanger to the back and find somewhere to put it on the wall. For now it is resting on one of the craft shelves.

I still had some really cute scrapbook paper from my new package that I wanted to use so I found another empty frame and made more wall art. The only problem is that I don't know where I am going to hang it yet. I still have an empty wall above the table but I want to make sure whatever I put there is going to be functional and serve a purpose. One idea I have is to find several more mesh office baskets, such as the one below that I spray-painted white, to hang on the wall with art surrounding it. But then again, I really like the idea of using a bunch of frames from Goodwill, spray painted white, so that I can display my girls' art work.

Another change I made was that I replaced the oversized, plastic bench that we previously had as seating with these bright pink ottoman storage cubes. They are the perfect size for the space and were only $15 each at Kohls. I think we are going back to get two more for the other side of the table. The nice thing about them in addition to the storage is that they fit under the table when you are not using them.

In addition to needing to fill the empty wall above the seating, I am still working on finding more, different containers for the bottom shelf and cute, girl accessories for the top one as well as labels for all of the containers. This room is a work-in-process but it's been fun seeing what projects I can come up with next and I'm getting most of my ideas from other blogs!

Linky Love:

The Shabby Chic Cottage...Transformation Thursdays

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Remembering {Ava} the Superprincess

2010-08-23T13:00:00.003-06:00

Ava, you will never. be. forgotten.

Happy Birthday Superprincess from sheye rosemeyer on Vimeo.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Playroom {Craft} Area & Storage

2010-08-11T21:10:00.017-06:00

Finding motivation this summer has been a little difficult and I haven't accomplished much in the way of decorating projects. So it makes me very happy that the playroom shelves are finished and we have a new craft table for Arielle. Looking at the pictures that I took of the shelves made me realize how badly I need to decorate the playroom, especially the new "craft section". I feel as though I am working with a blank canvas and have a ton of ideas floating through my head for all of this empty wall and shelf space.

Here is a BEFORE picture of the area in our playroom before we built the shelves:

Here is the after pictures with new shelves and craft table:

The fabric bins are concealing a lot of craft supplies and are perfect for the shelves because they have handles that will make it easier for Arielle to get them down. Since the shelf that they are on is a bit taller than her and she can't see inside them I am going to put some labels on the bins. It's so nice to be able to do that now that she is reading like a pro! I think I am going to steal JAG's idea so they should look similar to this when I am done {in fact I am going to email her right now to find out where she buys those circle things to make the labels}.

We purchased the table on craigslist for $35 and cut the legs down to a reasonable height for Arielle, keeping in mind that she is growing like a weed! I would love to paint the table white but I know it's going to get dirty so I don't think that would be a good time investment. I didn't intend to use the toy box bench as seating but since we decided to keep the table on the taller side our existing chairs a bit too short as you can see from the picture. The bench ended up being the perfect height and it provides additional storage, it just takes up a bigger footprint on the floor than regular chairs.

Here is a list of the supplies that we purchased to make the shelves including costs:

-3 six foot long primed MDF boards ($10 each)

-5 sets of two decorative metal brackets ($10.50 each)

-1 quart of Behr "February Frost" {purple} paint ($12)

In retrospect we could have saved money by purchasing a sample size of the purple paint but hopefully we can find a use for the leftovers and since we already had the pink paint that saved us a little. The total spent for three 5 foot shelves was about $95.

Check out this cute dry erase board that I got at a garage sale for $5! We hung it up in the playroom this weekend next to Arielle's kitchen playset {which she has totally outgrown} and she wrote this sign:

All Linked Up:

Today's Creative Blog...Get Your Craft on Tuesdays

The Shabby Chic Cottage...Transformation Thursdays

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday
Organize & Decorate Everything...We're Organized Wednesdays

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Averi ~ 10 months

2010-08-05T20:53:00.006-06:00

Averi turned 10 months this week. It's really hard to believe that she will be one year old in less than two months. She is still such a happy, content baby and we love her so much! Her personality is a mix of serious, funny, sweet and quick tempered. She has a lot of patience but when she doesn't like something she's not afraid to let you know. Sometimes she is so serious and doesn't show any emotion but other times she is very silly and knows how to make you laugh! Averi is becoming just as much of a talker as her big sister. She babbles on and on most of the time and has added a couple of words to her vocabulary. Of course only we know what she is saying but I'm certain that she says, "DOG", "BALL" and "SISTER". Of course she says "MAMA" and "DADA" much more frequently and usually Mama is associated with when she wants something and Dada is when she is playing around. Averi has been pulling herself up to a sitting position for the past month and she enjoys rolling all around the floor. In the past week she has really started getting up on her hands and knees and rocking but she is not truly crawling yet.

Here are a few more milestones:

-4 teeth (two middle teeth on top and bottom)

-Size 4 diapers

-Size 12 to 18 month clothes

-Bedtime between 7-7:30 pm (she is very good at letting us know when she is ready for bed and also very good at going to sleep right away)

-Wake up at 6 am usually on the dot! There have been a couple of nights that she has woken up in the middle of the night and turned on her fish aquarium but she doesn't cry.

-Sleeps with a receiving blanket

-One of the things she loves the most is to kick and splash at bathtime! One of the things she likes the least is being on the changing table after bathtime.

-Eats almost anything you put in front of her but recently she has decreased her intake and decided that she doesn't like apples.

-Cries whenever Momma is in the same room but not holding her

-Taking one nap a day at school (12-2 pm) but still taking two naps a day on the weekends at home

-Drinking 22 ounces of formula a day (4 bottles)

-We have been supplimenting Iron drops in her bottles for the past month because her levels were low at 9 month check-up

-She loves to snack on Cheerios while we she is sitting in the shopping cart while we are out and about!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Where have I been? And an Award!

2010-08-02T13:37:00.003-06:00

I have been such a blog slacker and I'm not very happy about that. My only excuse is W-O-R-K which is exausting me beyond belief. The last thing I want to do when I come home is look at another computer screen so there goes the idea of blogging. I hope to return sooner rather than later but we are in the middle of a financial audit and implementing a new accounting system.

In the meantime, Elizabeth at Habitually Crafty sent me a blog award. I would love to keep passing this award when I get some "free time". Thank you so much for reading my blog!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

New {striped} curtains

2010-07-16T09:01:00.007-06:00

I stopped in Lowe's the other day for a can of spray paint. It was bad luck that they didn't have a very good selection of paint colors, however, it was good luck they were having a HUGE curtain sale. When I say huge I mean there were panels for as low as $4.99 and there were so many to choose from!

One of the things on my June To Do List was to buy/make new curtains for our kitchen. Well I've been looking but couldn't find anything I liked until now. I bought three sets of curtains and tried them all out and I think I may have found a winner. I like how these blue and green striped curtains lighten up the room. What I don't like is how the background color {beige} blends into the wall but I think that is what lightens up the space so I am okay with that. Here is a sneak peak of what the curtains look like but I'll take more pics once I have a chance to clean up the space and accessorize {to see pictures of this area with my old curtains click here}.

Don't you hate those just-out-of-the-package wrinkles?

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

{embrace} the camera: july 15

2010-07-15T13:03:00.007-06:00

The girls and I enjoyed some time on the swings yesterday evening. They looked too cute and were having so much fun that I made Arielle run inside and bring out the camera. Averi loved the swing so much so I took a little video. She is such a happy baby!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

A little of this and a lot of that

2010-07-13T20:28:00.009-06:00

Sadly I haven't had a lot of time for fun projects lately. I don't think I've been to a thrift store in over a month either. I have managed to squeeze in a tablescape on my newer console table and another chalkboard makeover.

You may remember this post about the challenges I am facing with decorating my console table that sits next to our huge entertainment center in our living room. I hadn't done a thing with it until last week when I redecorated my mantel {you can see that post here}. I decided to use the accessories that were previously on my mantel until I can find some time to shop for new ones. I also purchased six eyelot tote bins from Bed Bath and Beyond so I could have lots of storage. I love the bins but i think having six of them might be a bit too much. However, having two young kids the storage comes in so handy so I probably won't be changing them out any time soon.

I love the gallery picture frame from Red Envelope that I have hanging about the table but it doesn't look as good without pictures in it! Maybe I'll have time to do that this weekend.

Here is my latest chalkboard makeover. I know I have been doing a lot of these lately but I couldn't help myself from finishing off a can of chalkboard paint that I had leftover from other projects. I had this great frame sitting around that was black but I spray painted it with glossy white. I have it hanging near the door to our garage so we can leave messages. This will be very helpful in the mornings when we are rushing out the door to school and work!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Giveaway at Nikki's Nacs

2010-07-08T08:13:00.003-06:00

Don't miss the CSN giveaway that Nikki is hosting! She has a great blog too so while you're over there check out her awesome decorating skills and two cute kiddos.

Post edit:

I WON!!!!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Summer {Mantel} Makeover

2010-07-07T20:34:00.009-06:00

I finally got around to brightening up my mantel for the summertime! I've mentioned before that my living room feels very dark primarily because of the dark colored, large pieces of furniture. While I really like the brown accent color around the fireplace it also adds to the darkness of the room so because of this I brought in some lighter accessories. I am really liking the new accessories and have something in mind for changing up my Letter "M" Project a little bit to brighten it up as well.

Here is the mantel before I redecorated it:

Here is the mantel after I brightened it up a bit:

I borrowed a couple of the accessories from other rooms of the house and also incorporated some of my new thrift store goodies. The tall, twisty candlesticks were recent purchases from Home Goods and I think they look give a lot of balance and height to the mantel.

All Linked Up:

The Shabby Chic Cottage...Transformation Thursdays

Just A Girl...Show and Share Day

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Heritage Square ~ Golden, Colorado

2010-07-06T20:28:00.005-06:00

We had a very nice three day holiday weekend despite Arielle's 48 hour stomach bug. The night before the 4th of July Zak and I got about 3 hours of sleep because Arielle was running a fever of 102-103 most of the night. The next day she was feeling better but the weather wasn't very cooperative. The temperature ended up dipping to 55 degrees and it was raining and quite windy so we ended up watching the fireworks from our house just like we did last year. Fortunately we have a view of at least five firework displays and a lot of neighbors that like to light their own {extremely big and loud} fireworks. The next day Arielle was back to her old {fiesty} self so we ventured out to Heritage Square, a small amusement park in Golden, Colorado that is home to the largest Alpine Slide in our state. Arielle rode many rides including the Tilt-a-Whirl and Scrambler for the first time ever. The Tilt-a-Whirl was by far her favorite and she made Zak go on it two times in a row which did him in! Averi and I spent a lot of time sitting around in the shade because spinny rides make me sick. She was so good all day until the car ride home when she cried the whole way because I didn't bring her afternoon bottle with us. Averi has gotten so interactive and she babbles just as much as her sister, if not more! She laughs and smiles a LOT too. Lately she has started crying when someone holds her if I am in the same room. My mom says I was the same exact way...there is no mistaken that she is my baby from her looks to her personality.

Here are some of my favorite pics from our outing:

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Pretty {Thrift} Decor

2010-06-30T08:43:00.006-06:00

I have found some good stuff on my recent trips to the thrift store. I am loving the color scheme of all of my new items as they go so well together. I can't wait to start redecorating some spaces in my house with all of my new pretty decor.

Here is a description of the items from left to right:

-A small black and silver picture frame {my favorite colors} for 99 cents

-A medium sized white container from Edible Arrangements for $3.99

-Another, smaller white container from Edible Arrangements for $1.50

-A small green container from Pier One for 69 cents {the best bargain}

-Three small terra cotta pots for $1.99

-A small light green gravy dish for $1.99

Total spent = $12

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Chalkboard {Frame} Art

2010-06-28T20:54:00.022-06:00

Making chalkboards is definitely one of the easiest do-it-yourself projects. I have made a few and have plans to make another one soon as well as do some chalkboard labeling on various containers. One of my favorite chalkboard projects so far was created by using set of three square picture frames, two small and one large, that I found at Salvation Army for $1 each.

Here is the larger one that is currently hanging above my coat rack in the entryway:

Here are the two smaller ones that are hanging in my half bathroom:

To start making them I removed the backing insert from the frame and sprayed the frames with chalkboard paint. Then I cut fabric squares larger than the backing and attached them to the backing with Elmer's Spray Adhesive. I wrapped the excess fabric around the other side of the backing and placed it back in the frame. Next I hot glued various shells directly to the fabric. Last but not least I wrote beach themed words and messages around the frames.

The possibilities for these frames are endless and I can easily change them at any time. I thought about attaching some silver clips and creating a message board and still might try it if I get tired of the shells. If anyone else tries this I'd love to see what you come up with!

All Linked Up:

Today's Creative Blog...Get Your Craft on Tuesday

Nikki's Nifty Knacks...Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day

The Shabby Chic Cottage...Transformation Thursdays

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

A Soft Place to Land...DIY Day Beach Edition

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

{embrace} the camera

2010-06-24T15:01:00.008-06:00

Averi at 7 months

With Momma:

With Daddy:

With Sister:

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Personalized {Subway} Sign

2010-06-21T20:31:00.010-06:00

I've been seeing homemade subway signs all over the place recently {you can see some of my inspiration here}. I love the way they look and really wanted to make one for myself but I wasn't thrilled about spending a lot of time stenciling and painting for a couple of reasons. One, I don't have a lot of free time and two, I don't have a steady hand.

So Zak and I brainstormed on how we could create one electronically and pay to have it printed. Fortunately, Tee, Zak's Dad is a graphic art designer with his own business called "First Impressions" so he helped us out using Adobe Illustrator {I created my version in Microsoft Word and sent it to him to convert}. We took the file to Kinkos and had it printed on heavy weight paper for a total cost of $23.

The size 16x20 was determined by a frame that I found at Goodwill for $3. It is a very basic wood frame that was originally painted dark blue. I sanded it down and spray painted it with Rustoleum Aluminum.

It turned out to look like more of a modern piece of art as opposed to a vintage sign but I really like the simplicity of it. Each of the street names are symbolic to Zak and I and that is my favorite thing about it!

Total Cost = $30

All Linked Up:

Tatertots and Jello...Subway Art Party

Today's Creative Blog...Get Your Craft On Tuesday

Just A Girl...Show and Share Wednesday

The Shabby Chic Cottage...Transformation Thursday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Free {Tray} Makeover & Asiatic Lillies

2010-06-20T21:36:00.016-06:00

I found this wooden tray in a pile of free stuff that somebody had after their yard sale. After a good sanding down and three coats of my good old standby spray paint {Rustoleum Heirloom White} it looks brand new. The Asiatic Lillies came from my garden. Arielle tried to pick one and ending up breaking all of them off the stem. They look better in this glass pot that I got from Goodwill so it was a happy accident!

BEFORE {after removing sports embellishments and sanding}:

AFTER:

I'm thinking about turning it into a craft tray for Arielle using buckets from Target dollar section or reusing miscellaneous containers. I have seen some cute homemade labels in blogland that I can easily replicate. Perhaps a little stenciling and girly embellishment on the sides would complete this free wooden tray makeover. Stay tuned!

All Linked Up:

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Giveaway!

2010-06-17T20:02:00.003-06:00

Check out this awesome giveaway that Decor Chick is doing! Who couldn't use a $50 gift card to Hobby Lobby. You get 3 chances to win. Good luck!

While you are there check out her blog. I know you'll like it!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Subway Sign {Art} Inspiration

2010-06-16T08:43:00.006-06:00

I'm working on a new wall art project that was inspired by Carrie at Buzzings of a Queen Bee. You can check out her homemade subway sign tutorial here and see a picture below:

I love her idea of a personalized subway sign and knew I wanted to make one for myself. The problem is that I don't have a steady enough hand to do stencils and fill them in with a paint pen. I just know I would end up messing it up somehow so Zak and I have been trying to think of alternative ways to make our own. I think we have found a solution that works for us but I can't bring it to fruition until I find the right frame. I am certain that if I can find time to stop at Goodwill that I will find one and hopefully finish my project by this weekend.

Meanwhile, here are some other inspiring subway signs that I had in mind when designing my own:

Photo {and tutorial} courtesty of http://www.lilblueboo.blogspot.com/
Cost: Not specified

Photo {and tutorial} courtesy of http://www.younghouselove.com/
Cost: $6

Photo courtesy of http://www.restorationhardware.com/
Cost: $795

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Laundry Room Makeover & {Storage} Tips

2010-06-14T10:56:00.018-06:00

I have {nearly} completed our laundry room makeover. Aside from hanging a couple of things up on the wall {more about that later} there is not much else I can do to finish this space. The room is actually a large hallway closet and it is small. I didn't change much from the previous layout other than painting the walls, adding accessories & storage and rearranging some stuff on the walls that was already in there. This room now has plenty of storage for everyday household items such as cleaning supplies, sewing notions, hardware and tools. If you take a close look you'll see storage containers just about everywhere in all shapes and sizes, some of which are pretty and some are plain but either way they serve their purpose. Everything I used I already had except the paint so the total cost was about $25.

The paint color is called "Mocha Accent" by Behr. I wouldn't recommend using it in an entire room because it is rather dark but that is the look I wanted for our laundry room. I figured since it really is a closet and closets are usually dark I wanted it to stay that way to some degree and not stick out of our house like a sore thumb. All of the white from the appliances to the shelving really tones down the darkness as well which I was counting on.

Here are a couple of before pictures of the laundry room without appliances:

Here are the after photos and a breakdown the changes that I made.

The new washer and dryer, although with increased capacity from our old ones, are much smaller so I was able to fit a 3 drawer organizer on the floor next to the dryer. This is great for additional storage of large items such as humidifier filters which is what I have in there right now. On top of that I found a large, heavy duty wire basket at Goodwill for a whopping one dollar and I loaded it up with toilet paper rolls. We buy these from Costco so we get a million at a time {too many to fit all under the bathroom cabinets}.

I rehung my little white shelf on the other side of the room where there was additional space. On top of it I added two cute, little matching mason jars; one holds screws & nails the other holds buttons. Between those is a beautiful white jar that contains various light bulbs. The shelf below that contains some pretty accessories for now until I need additional storage. The bottom shelf holds a silver, metal mesh container with dryer sheets, a brown beaded candler holder with chalk and a shiny silver container with random hardware. I might hang a hook rack below this shelving unit if I find I need to hang stuff up but for now I don't have a use for one. It's good to know that there is ways to add different kinds of storage if need be.

I filled up the white wire shelving that runs the entire width of the room with a combination of glass and white accessories as well as round shallow baskets resting against the wall. I also added two photo boxes filled with sewing supplies that fit perfectly in the corner. Although this type of shelving isn't very eye-catching I opted to keep it instead of replacing it because it was no cost and I need it to hang clothes that are drying. At some point I may purchase or make my own wood shelving and hang a curtain or shower rod but right now this was much more feasible for now.

The shorter white wire shelf above the dryer contains a plastic bin that holds lots of cleaning supplies. Again, not very pretty but functional and I know the items are out of reach of little hands which was my goal. Storing these items here is a good thing because it means I don't have to store them under bathroom cabinets and bother with childproofing them. I have been looking for something else to use instead of a clear plastic container like a basket or colorful tote but so far no luck. I use these 19 quart clear plastic containers everywhere in my house because they are so versatile and cheap {$4 at Wal-Mart}. I use them to store seasonal items, baby stuff, kids cups, cleaning supplies, blankets, undergarments...you name it and they'll hold it and fit practically anywhere! This shelf also contains a basket with basic tools that are mostly used for hanging stuff. I already had this basket and it was not being used so at some point I may swap it out if I find one that is more suitable for the space and function. And of course this is where I keep the large container of laundry detergent {also purchased from Costco which explains why it is so big}. I love the idea of storing powder laundry detergent in glass jars but I have always preferred liquid detergent so no such luck!

On top of the dryer I put a small plastic container to put things in that I find when I am doing the laundry. This keeps these items from rolling onto the floor before I have a chance to put them where they really belong. I also have a round glass candle holder sitting under the laundry detergent dispenser which is also where I put my soap cup so there is no mess to clean up. I also have a plastic mat covering the top of the dryer to avoid dings and scratches.

The hanging iron and ironing board organizer serves its purpose as well and I'm glad I was able to put it where the board can rest between the wall and the washer so it's out of the way. Before we hung it up there were did a test run to make sure I could get it in and out of the closet.

I am going to make a chalkboard to hang in this space so I can make notes or leave messages. I think a chalkboard hanging by a ribbon from a silver decorative knob would look great! I will also hang my clock as soon as I decide where the chalkboard will go.

For now the space is a big improvement from before and I am happy that this project fell into my lap, even if we did have to buy brand new appliances! If only I could find a way to organize my kitchen and pantry this well.

All Linked Up:

Today's Creative Blog...Get Your Craft on Tuesday

Just A Girl...Show and Share Day

The Shabby Chic Cottage...Transformation Thursday

Just Alice...Laundry Room Party
Organize and Decorate Everything...We're Organized Wednesday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

{embrace} the camera

2010-06-10T10:55:00.006-06:00

I thought I would join in on this linky party over at 3 boys and a little lady especially since I had some recent pics to share! Arielle is becoming quite the photographer.

This next one doesn't count since I took it but I thought it was too cute not to share! And I am too lazy to edit the red eye.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Laundry {Closet} Before

2010-06-10T08:15:00.005-06:00

I was really hoping to finish up the laundry room makeover that we started this weekend but no suck luck! I am waiting on Zak to cut another shelf for me but he is so picky that he needs to go back to the store to buy a different shelf that matches our existing one. Talk about perfectionist! Meanwhile I have been trying to decorate and organize it using stuff I already have but I may have to to buy a few things this weekend. Here are some pictures of our empty laundry room so you can try to envision the makeover. We painted it "Mocha Accent" by Behr so bye-bye beige! I chose a dark color because of the fact that our laundry room is actually a large closet in our upstairs hallway so I didn't want it to stand out too much. The darkness makes it feel more like a hidden place which is what I wanted.

Yesterday Averi had a little stomach bug so that was interesting. She ran a fever all day and pretty much slept for 24 hours. I was relieved when she was acting more like herself this morning especially since Arielle had been sick over the weekend with another ear infection and I have been battling an extreme case of hives. Hopefully we'll all feel better this weekend and have lots of time to play and finish projects!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

June To Do List

2010-06-06T21:48:00.006-06:00

Another month has flown by and I am happy to report that I accomplished 3 out of 4 of the things on my To Do List for May. This weekend we had an unexpected project pop up and I can't wait until we are finished so I can post it. It was all made possible because last weekend our four year old washing machine died on us. We had a repair man assess the damage and were shocked when he told us it was going to cost over $650 to fix it because we paid a lot less than that to buy it. Needless to say we decided to buy a new washer and got a great deal on the matching dryer. We were so pleased to find out that our city and state each have seperate rebates available with the purchase of enery efficient appliances. We'll also be receiving a rebate from GE for purchasing both appliances. Did you also know that Lowe's offer next day FREE delivery? This was a lifesaver!

Anyway, I decided to paint the laundry room {closet} the night before our new appliances were delivered. So that is the project that I can't wait to finish up.

Here is my To Do List for June:

1. Finish newly painted laundry room.

2. Buy/make new accessories for ladder shelves in office and redecorate them.

3. Buy/make new curtains for the patio doors in the kitchen.

There are so many more projects I want to do but I have to consider how much time I actually have to work on them so I like to keep my goals small and realistic.

It wouldn't be a good post without pics so here is a wonderful large blue mason jar that I found at Goodwill the other day. I love it! I'm not exactly sure where I am going to use it but for now it is resting on one of the office ladder bookshelves.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Averi ~ 8 months

2010-06-04T08:47:00.008-06:00

In the past month Averi has started doing so much and she has settled into a great routine!

-Rolling from her tummy to her back
-Rolling across the floor to get to something
-Getting down on the floor from a sitting position (more like falling down but intentionally)
-Sleeping through the night
-Weaned off nursing
-Eating solid foods (by far her favorite thing to do)
-Three meals a day plus afternoon snack
-Four 6 ounce bottles a day; 6am, 12pm, 4pm, 7:30pm (bedtime)
-Drinking from a sippy cup
-First tooth
-Size 3 diaper
-Practically outgrown size 9 month clothing
-Out of infant carrier into rear-facing car seat
-Lots of laughing, babbling and smiling!

I have had so many people tell me what a Happy and Pleasant baby she is and I couldn't agree more! We are so blessed to have her in our family.

Here is a video of Averi that I took one day when she was eating mac n' cheese. She is just too cute for words!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Wooden {Lamp} Makeover

2010-06-02T08:30:00.018-06:00

I purchased this wooden lamp base at a thrift store for $1 knowing that it had so much potential to look beautiful. Even if I brought the lamp home and it didn't work it was worth a try for this amount of money. I do have to admit that I was relieved when I plugged it in and the light came on though.

I decided to use Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint for my color mostly because I already had some on hand but I did have to purchase an additional can so I spent another $4. After four coats of paint over the entire base the lamp already looked ten times better than before. However, because it is made of wood and there were a few cracks and knicks it didn't look very fresh and clean like I was imagining. I was ready to sand it down and give it a couple more coats of paint but the distressed look appealed to me more so I just sanded as much as I could.

I really love this new lamp that I created and it looks even better with the burlap lamp shade on it that I purchased from Target for $20. I thought about covering my own lamp shade but I would have chosen burlap anyway so this pre-made shade was perfect!

This lamp has made an excellent addition to our Beach Guest Room! I have a side table in this room that I have decided to finish in the same way so it will match the lamp and balance out the room. I'm putting that on my To Do List for June!

All Linked Up:

Today's Creative Blog...Get Your Craft on Tuesday

Just A Girl...Show and Share Day

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Our {Girly} Playroom

2010-06-01T07:31:00.010-06:00

About a year after we moved into our house we decided to have a portion of the basement finished so that we could use it as a playroom. Although this room doesn't get used nearly enough as you would think or I would like it has so many benefits. Like for starters, it holds a LOT of toys and it is nice and cool in the summertime. Maybe once Arielle gets a little more independant she will appreciate it more. I know Averi is going to have a blast in there as soon as she starts crawling....everything will be on the ground!

I arranged the pictures down below in order of how you would see the room if you were standing in the center and spun around in a clockwise direction. There is a fully slipcovered loveseat in the middle of the room that I purchased on craigslist for $150. It was the best investment for this room by far! The double doors open up to the rest of our unfinished basement which contains some exercise equipment and provides plenty of storage for seasonal items, unused furniture and other items of that nature. The rest of the room speaks for itself!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Front Porch done at last!

2010-05-28T08:37:00.013-06:00

I was loving the changes that we made to our front porch door and lights so much that it made the rest of our front porch items in need of a makeover as well. For example, look at the BEFORE photos below and note how my favorite brown flower pots no longer matched the door. Also, the black metal plant stand and wooden bench were so faded that they were hardly noticeable. So we purchased a few more cans of spray paint and instantly transformed the rest of our front porch into a refreshed and renewed space.

BEFORE #1:

BEFORE #2:

I purchased two cans of Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint to transform the flower pots. It took three coats to fully cover them but it was worth the time and money. I really like the lighter shade on them now but they are kind of boring so I think I will add a monogram or decal to them soon. I might have considered buying new pots if I hadn't already planted flowers in the old ones but it would have cost me at least $60 if not more for new ones and all Ihad to spend was $10 on spray paint to makeover my old ones. That's quite a savings!

AFTER #1:

AFTER #2:

Zak took apart the bench and spray painted the metal sides and the plant stand with Rustoleum Semi-gloss Black. I love how the black metal stands out against the brick walls now. He also sanded down the wooden bench slats and restained them in a red finish. The bench looks so much better now than it did before. We could have bought a new bench for around $100 but I think spending $8 for spray paint and using leftover stain was a much more affordable way to improve our front porch. We bought this bench a little over 7 years ago when we bought our first house so it has a lot of meaning and I wouldn't have wanted to get rid of it anyway.

AFTER #3:

I was thinking about replacing our existing address numbers which currently reside on the left column {you can't see them in the photos because I cropped them out for obvious privacy reasons}. They are the standard black letters that you see at most homes so I want to change them to something that will stand out more. However, each number costs $5-6 and we have 5 numbers in our address so that's a big chunk of change. I also think it would look better for them to go across the top of the porch instead of going down the side of the column so perhaps a hand-painted plaque would be a better option.

Does anyone have a more affordable suggestion for how to do this improvement? If so, I would love to hear from you.

All Linked Up:

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Spring at our house

2010-05-27T10:12:00.009-06:00

I found these beautiful pictures on my camera the other day. They were taken by my five year old daughter, Arielle. She has such a passion for flowers. In fact, she is struggling on learning to ride her bike because she is more focused on picking all of the flowers along the way {mostly dandelions}. In the past week, I have pulled the car over three times to pick wildflowers for her. It would break my heart if she didn't get to see them up close and smell their wonderful aroma. Yesterday she started two books, one a Nature Guide of Wildflowers and the other one for Leaves. She is drawing all of the ones she finds and writing their names. I am thankful for the warm seasons because I know I will always have a freshly picked bouqet of flowers, courtesy of Arielle, to cheer me up!

My iris are going crazy this year! They have gotten so tall and multiplied times ten. I have a lot of work to do this fall to divide and replant them. These are some of the easiest bulbs to maintain. I have some planted on the sides of the garden bed but most of them are planted in the rocks along the fence. They do well in both places. Good thing our fence is long because I am going to need lots more room to replant them. I'll probably offer some to my neighbors as well.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

{Beachy} Bathroom Decorating

2010-05-26T08:20:00.023-06:00

I have been working on a few little projects in order to give my half bathroom on the main level of the house a beach themed appearance. You can see some before pictures here.

Remember this post about the thrift store closing sale {which in retrospect I should have bought a lot more than I did because the prices were so LOW}? I decided to turn the glass bottle into a new piece to add to my beachy bathroom collection. It was easy. I had leftover hemp string from the chalkboard frames that I made so I used it up. All I did was wrap the string around the jar and hot glue the ends to the bottle. I am planning on adding some Siesta Key white sand to the bottle but haven't received it yet.

I already had the beach picture art that I purchased from Hobby Lobby some time ago. This picture is actually where I got the inspiration for the bathroom wall color but it was previously in a plain silver frame {not beachy looking at all}. I found a large wooden frame that I had stored in the basement, spray painted it white and sanded down the edges to make it look beachy. Such small and easy changes can make a huge difference when it comes to accessories!

Next I added some antique glass jars. I purchased the large clear one at the thrift store before the closing sale for $4. I thought this was pricey but purchased it none-the-less then later found out that these things sell for a lot more at antique stores! I filled it up with my small sand dollar collection. My mom gave me the small aqua one and all I did to give it more life was put my collection of small Siesta Key shells in it. I think one of the best features of these jars is the rusted metal clasps which add more detail to the beach theme.

Lastly, the blue paisley box under the seashell are matches that I received as a gift. They were too cute not to show off. And the white starfish was added to add more depth to the shelf. Besides, what beach room would be complete without one? In fact, I am thinking of getting myself a few more of these lovelies to add to every single room of the house!

I am totally loving my newly decorated shelf! These were quick, easy and inexpensive ways to give this bathroom a whole new look.

All linked up:

Just A Girl...Show and Share Day
The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday
A Soft Place to Land...DIY Day {Beach Edition}

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

One thing left to do

2010-05-25T08:28:00.008-06:00

I can't believe that May is almost over. Time flies but nothing ever changes! That is how I have been feeling a lot lately. I don't think this is a bad thing at all. I like to count my blessings because I have so much to be thankful for...a loving family, my health, a beautiful home and a job that is probably as good as it gets. Wait a minute. Did I say my health? I forgot about these hives that popped up last week and have invaded practically my entire body. I am waiting for the doctors office to open as we speak so I can make an appointment. I really think that the pregnancy hormones have left my body for good and now I am allergic to something that I have always been around because I have not started using anything different at all.

Anyway, back to the real reason for this post. I have accomplished three out of four things on my to do list for May. The only one that remains is to paint the nightstand in Averi's room...something that is not a high priority but would be nice. Currently the nightstand is rustic wood and totally clashes with the crib and white bookshelf so it would be nice to paint it. I'll get around to it soon enough.

For now I am going to enjoy the projects that I have recently completed and am still in the process of completing. The front porch improvements were nearly complete last weekend but I had a minor set back. I'll be posting about that very soon with any luck.

What's a post without cute baby pictures? Here is Averi holding her own bottle...she is getting so big!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Please vote!

2010-05-24T09:59:00.001-06:00

Should I change my blog name? Please vote above!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Bedtime Blues

2010-05-21T10:44:00.005-06:00

For the past week now Arielle has had a very difficult time falling asleep at her regular bedtime. I would go upstairs and walk by her room to feed Averi between 9 and 10 pm and find that Arielle's bedroom light was on. Upon opening the door she would be sitting up in bed with a pile of books on her bed and on the floor. She would just say "I can't fall asleep." I spoke to her teachers and asked them not to help her fall asleep at nap time because my hope was that any sleep during the day would be the cause of her not being able to fall asleep at night. Turns out that she didn't nap most days this week but still couldn't fall asleep at night.

I'm actually quite amazed at how well she is handling this because I would have expected her to come downstairs throughout the course of the night and make a fuss to sit with us. However, to my delight there has been no crying, whining, fussing, yelling, screaming or any other tantrum-like episodes thus far. Of course, I'm not at all too happy about this new little routine that she has been settling into but I think we are doing a good job of handing it.

Last night I decided to take a new approach to the situation. I told her that she couldn't turn the lights on after we left her room but she could use her flashlight to read one book. After that she had to try to fall asleep but whatever she did she couldn't turn her bedroom light on. I think having the light on will make her less likely to fall asleep which is why I made this rule. I know for sure that she didn't turn her light on last night because I checked often but I never went in her room to know if she read more than one book or what time she fell asleep. I'm crossing my fingers that the "No lights on" rule will work and she'll outgrow this soon.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear ~

Front Porch Improvements

2010-05-18T20:33:00.009-06:00

Last weekend we got one more thing on my to do list accomplished! We painted the front door and the porch lights. Before our door was a darker shade of green than our house and it didn't stand out enough. We decided to use the same black paint from this post from one of my favorite bloggers. I love how the black pops out against the white trim!

Our front porch lights used to be black but they faded over time and were really dirty inside and out. Zak took them apart and washed them then we gave them two coats of metallic satin nickel spray paint. They now look brand new and compliment the black door nicely!

I'm not loving the ugly old milkbox in this picture! If only I could paint that too.

All linked up:

Today's Creative Blog...Get Your Craft on Tuesday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Tropical Floor Pillow Slipcover {Tutorial}

2010-05-16T20:53:00.008-06:00

I used the remaining fabric from a tropical shower curtain to make a slipcover for a large floor pillow. It matches the other two slipcovers I made for the throw pillows on my couch. I really liked the silver grommets at the top of the shower curtain so I decided to use them on the pillow for a little embellishment!

Using a shower curtain is the easiest way to make pillow slipcovers because you can use the finished edges so you only have one sewing step in the entire process. Not to mention that shower curtains are generally inexpensive (I bought this one on clearance at Target for $7.50), they are usually made out of very soft cotton which is important since you are going to be laying on them and you can make a lot of slipcovers out of them because they are big!

Here is my tutorial for these E-A-S-Y pillow slipcovers made from a shower curtain:

1. Measure your pillow insert from end to end.

2. Cut one large square that is the size of your pillow insert plus 1.5" (add an additional inch to this if your pillow is 24" or larger). Also, cut two rectangles that are the same length as the square but half as wide plus 3". For example, if your pillow insert is 24" (this is the size of my floor pillow) then your square should be 26.5" and the two rectangles should be 16.25" each.

3. Place your square down with the right side up and place the rectangles on top of it with the right side down (so it is inside out). Line up all sides of the square and the rectangles; you'll have an overlap of the rectangles as pictured below. This is where you'll insert your pillow into the slipcover!

4. Pin every 4 inches on all sides.

5. Sew a quarter inch seam around the edges.

6. Flip your slipcover so it is no longer inside out and try it on!

Enjoy your new pillows!

All linked up:

DIY Day with Color Incorporated...A Soft Place to Land

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Tropical Pillow Slipcovers

2010-05-12T21:05:00.012-06:00

I recently found this post and was inspired to make new pillow slipcovers for my living room out of a shower curtain that was sitting in my linen closet.

My living room is quite dark probably because of our very large, dark brown sectional. When we first moved into our house there weren't a lot of sectional with chaise options that we could afford. We wanted a chaise for more seating. Ours was the only one that we found that was reasonably priced but the only two color choices were red and brown. My choice was the obvious one because I am really a neutral-oriented person. The only nice thing about the brown is that it doesn't show any dirt and the fabric is very easy to clean. Anyway, I thought these pillows would brighten up the room and prepare us for summer mode. I was right! These pillows gave the room an instant pop of color that it was lacking. I made two twenty inch pillows but have enough fabric left over for a large floor pillow that Arielle will love.

I didn't take a picture of both sides of the pillows but I used the bottom of the shower curtain to make the back of the slipcovers so that all I had to sew was one large square {as opposed to hemming the raw edges that can been seen on the back}. It literally took me fifteen minutes to cut and sew both slipcovers, they were that easy to make! I'll post a tutorial when I make the floor pillow.

Looking at this picture has given me an idea! fter I finish my thrift store lamp project I'm going to replace the silver one in the corner. I think the larger lamp will look better next to our big couch which is in front of a very big window.

All linked up:

The Shabby Nest....Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Master Bathroom Improvement

2010-05-10T14:40:00.025-06:00

I was so happy with how our framed bathroom mirrors turned out that I have been looking for more ways to improve the look of our bathrooms. I finally got tired of looking at the side of our ugly plastic tub in the master bathroom so we decided to update it with beadboard siding and trim. It was actually quite easy and relatively inexpensive to do. Zak used "pre-made" wainscoting boxes sold at Home Depot which cost a fair amount more than buying the beadboard and trim seperately, however, for as little space as we needed to cover it was worth the cost difference. Plus, we used these packages to do our two other small bathrooms in the house and knew the time saving was worth the extra money.

Here is the {ugly} before of our master bathroom tub:

And here is the {beautiful} after:

The first step was to build a frame out of 2"x3" wood {in retrospect we would have used 2"x4" so the beadboard had more surface to adhere to but fortunately it wasn't an issue for us}. Once your frame is put together you adhere the newly built frame to as many surfaces as you can {floor, wall, tub, etc..} with liquid nails.

Once the frame is secured in place, you attach the beadboarding and trim to the frame using liquid nails and a nail gun. Fill in cracks and nails with quick dry putty and sand down for a smooth finish. Now you are ready to paint! Since the "pre-made" boxes that we purchased are already white, we only had to do two coats of paint.

Let the paint dry then attach edging tiles along the top of the frame using liquid nails. Another option is to use cut marble tiles that overhang the edge but we picked the easier and less inexpensive option. We found white matte corner tiles on clearance at Lowe's for twenty-four cents each so that reinforced our decision. We had to take two of the tiles to Home Depot to be cut {free of charge}. To determine the cuts, start placing tiles in the center and work your way out. The two end tiles are the ones that should be cut exactly the same size. This looks better than just cutting one tile and it's definitely worth the trip back out to the store!

Lastly, you can use "Grout Caulk" to fill in the gaps of the tile. This is so much easier and a lot more affordable to do than regular grout which also requires sealer. Use regular silicone caulk to fill in all of the seams on the beadboard and trim so that water does not seep through and turn moldy. We still haven't applied any water-sealer to the siding yet but we'll do that soon because we know the side of the tub is going to get wet and this will prevent it from warping and mildewing.

Total spent on this project was about $45 give or take a few dollars. I love the new look of our tub and can't wait to see what other improvements we can do soon!

All linked up:

A Soft Place to Land...DIY Day with The Pleated Poppy

Just A Girl...Show and Share Day

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

I'm a giveaway WINNER!

2010-05-08T20:37:00.003-06:00

I just found out that I won a GIVEAWAY from The Shabby Nest! Wendy is sending me a Scrabble Tile Necklace from her Etsy shop. How cool is that?!?!

By the way, we've been busy this weekend {by we I mostly mean Zak}. Almost done with Number One on my To Do List for May. Stay tuned!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Project To Do List ~ May

2010-05-07T08:46:00.005-06:00

Now that Spring is here and I have my pre-pregnancy/baby energy back again, I have a few projects that I want to do in the next month or so.

1. Paint front door {inspired by this post}

2. Put beadboard up in master bathroom including building a skirt around the tub {inspired by this post}

3. Paint nightstand in Averi's nursery room

4. Clean carpets on main level of the house {this is a MUST do}!

Hopefully writing this post will give me the motivation that I need to accomplish these tasks! A post wouldn't be fun without any cute pictures so enjoy...

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Framed Bathroom Mirrors Project

2010-05-04T20:58:00.010-06:00

I have been seeing a lot of framed mirrors in blog land lately but this one was the inspiration that I needed to finally do it myself {with a LOT of help from my handy husband}. We started with our master bathroom mirror and selected a four inch wide trim to frame it out. We followed Shelley's tutorial except we decided not to add quarter round. The frame was fairly easy to make but it would have been easier if the existing mirror and walls were perfectly square. Total spent was about $50 and it was worth every penny!

I can't believe I forgot to take the contact lense case before I took the pictures!

We like how the master bathroom mirror turned out so much that we did one in our girls bathroom too! For their bathroom we selected a three inch trim since their mirror is much smaller. The hardest part about this was getting the frame to stay together with less surface for the liquid nails to stick to. It ended up falling apart a couple of times but Zak worked it out in the end. Total spent for this frame was about $25. The bathroom looks so much prettier but it will look even better after I find a new wall cabinet and do some redecorating.

Mariposa made an appearance just as I was snapping a picture!

I highly recommend this project to anyone with a plain old bathroom mirror!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Thrift Store Closing Sale

2010-04-30T20:46:00.006-06:00

At least once a month I go to the Salvation Army Thrift Store during my lunch break. It is so conveniently located just two minutes down the road from my work. Today I went and found out that the store is closing. The only good thing about this was that the entire store was 50% off so I bought a few things. I got everything that is pictured for $22 but half of the total was spent on the one large framed seashell print. I tried to talk the clerk down but she wouldn't budge. So needless to say I am really bummed out that I won't be going thrifting as often now that the store is closed but I have a few new projects to keep me busy for a little while.

I am the most excited about the wooden lamp because I really like the style but it's obviously in need of a makeover! I have a specific project in mind for the small square picture frame but the rest of the frames I'll just have to store in the basement until something comes up. The tall glass jar will make an excellent flower vase after I wrap a little jute string around it. The smaller glass jar was just to cute and cheap to pass up! I'm sure I'll find some way to use it around the house. I can't wait to find time for my new projects. They'll have to wait until after this weekend because we are working on a little home improvement project that was inspired by this post.

Wish us luck!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

I can't get enough of Chalkboard Paint!

2010-04-25T20:54:00.011-06:00

Last week I found these goodies while thrifting. The two matching square picture frames were $1.20 each and the ceramic tray (minus the painters tape-I forgot to take a real "before" picture) was $2.20. All three items were in excellent condition and didn't need to be altered to look nice BUT I had some leftover Chalkboard spray paint that I couldn't ignore.

I painted the tray and decided to display my newest chalkboard in the downstairs bathroom. It turned out well and works great! The paint chips off only if you pick at it {which I discovered when trying to remove a piece of dog hair that got stuck to it while the paint was drying}. While I was re-accessorizing the bathroom I pulled an unused shadow box out of the basement and pinned my Siesta Key sand-dollars inside of it.

If you thought that project ended the chalkboard madness think again. I also painted the two matching picture frames. Then I found some beige linen fabric and attached it to the backing of the picture frames with spray glue. I did iron the fabric but because it's linen it still looks quite wrinkled. I am okay with that since I am going with the beach theme and it just makes them looked "weathered". Keeping with the beach theme I used my glue gun and attached some pretty seashells to the fabric. I love how my new art looks! The best thing about it is that at any time I can easily change what is in the frame.

Total cost of all projects was $8.10 which includes the three thrift store items, a roll of hemp string to hang the frames and a wooden plate stand to display the tray . I already had the shadow box, linen fabric, seashells, sand-dollars and chalkboard paint.

Post note: I was playing around with a new flash for our camera and don't think the pictures turned out great. Guess I need to practice some more with it before I do another post.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

ALL LINKED UP:

We Are Family

2010-04-23T15:06:00.003-06:00

I was just browsing through some recent pictures and for some reason these ones crack me up!

I have to wonder what was going through Averi's mind when all of this was going on.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Sister Love

2010-04-22T11:01:00.003-06:00

Here's some pictures of the girls "just horsing around"....

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Reflections

2010-04-21T08:50:00.006-06:00

Last night Averi slept for 9.5 hours without eating. She only woke up once and cried but it didn't last long and she put herself back to sleep. She is on such a great schedule right now:

6-6:45 am: Wake up and nurse

8:15 am: Eat breakfast (cereal and fruit)

9-9:30: Nap 45 minutes to 1.5 hours

11:00 am: Eat lunch (cereal and fruit or vegetable)

12:15 pm: Bottle (6 oz. formula)

12:30-1 pm: Nap 1.5 to 2.5 hours

4-4:30 pm: Bottle (6 oz. formula)

6:00 pm: Dinner (cereal and vegetable)

7:30-8 pm: Bed time

9-10:00 pm: Nurse and go back to sleep

In between all of this Averi is very content sitting around playing with toys, babbling and interacting with others. When I think back to her first few weeks I never imagined she would settle into such a predictable routine because of her colic. Now I am so thankful that we had a lot of patience and I feel like we did everything right. She is such a HaPPy baby!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

More fun with chalkboard paint

2010-04-13T12:45:00.006-06:00

I have been looking for a little tree for Averi's bird theme nursery for quite a while. Nothing that I found was close enough to the "look" I was going for until this weekend when I was shopping the Kohl's clearance section. I found this tree on clearance for $4 and knew right away that it was perfect. I took a before picture {see below} but that was after I had removed the mini eggs that were hanging from it, which by the way are adorable so I saved them to be used on a future decorating craft.

The only thing that I didn't like about this tree was the color of the pot because it did not match Averi's room at all. Since I was already using the chalkboard spray paint for this project I figured I would paint the pot with it as well and it turned out great! It is the perfect addition to Averi's shelf.

I'm linked up to Just A Girl linky party! Check it out....

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

"Magnetic" Chalkboard Project

2010-04-13T08:26:00.007-06:00

I have been wanting to do another chalkboard project since I made a beach themed one for Arielle's room over a year ago. I still had leftover chalkboard spray paint and several more unused picture frames laying around the house so any project would have been a no or low cost to me.

Fortunately I found a cute "magnetic" picture frame on clearance at Hobby Lobby which only cost me about $3. The only part about the frame that I really liked was the pink magnetic piece that was screwed into the wooden frame {I forgot to take a picture of the picture frame before I took it apart}. So I got the idea to paint an 11" x 14" wooden frame, insert a chalkboard and glue the pink piece of metal to the middle of the chalkboard. After I painted the frame I wasn't happy with how the paint dried...it was really old paint and I think the frame a partial water damage. To fix this I simply sanded the paint down so the brown showed through. I liked how the distressing "aged" the frame but it needed more to make it look worn down. That's when I grabbed the screwdriver and paintbrush and began pounding away at it. The different sized dent marks gave it that final touch to make it look like it's been sitting around for years.

This project was so easy and serves two purposes...it holds magnets and you can write on it with chalk! I hung it up in Averi's nursery room above her Ikea hanging wall storage. I love how it turned out! Did you notice that I forgot to put the magnets on it before I took the pictures but you can use your imagination and pretend there is a little silver magnet holding up a note or a photo in the center.

I linked up to The Shabby Nest Frugal Friday linky party. Funny thing is that Wendy's post for the day was a pinboard that she created which was inspired by a "magnet" board from a store catalogue. I hope she likes my version of a magnet board.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Averi ~ 6 Months Old

2010-04-09T08:39:00.006-06:00

Last Friday Averi turned half a year old! She started the week off with {another} cold but despite that she has been so happy. She also appeared to be cutting a tooth because she kept sticking her toungue out to feel her gums all day but so far nothing has popped through.

Averi has started following the same schedule every day for about the past month and things are getting easier for us as far as adjusting to life with a new baby. The only bump in the road has been her night waking which always gets worse when she is sick. I decided that something needs to be done to get her to sleep through the night now that she is six months old. So for the past week, when she wakes up at 1:30 am every morning like a little alarm clock, I have not fed her. Of course she cries but she doesn't act hungry so I don't feel too bad about my decision. Her crying increments have decreased from 1.5 hours to 40 minutes in the past week...that is progress even if it is still a long period of time. The crazy thing is that she has been so good at falling asleep on her own for the past several months so I don't understand why she cries when she wakes up in the middle of the night. I think it might be a habit for her since just until a week ago I was still feeding her through the night and she may be wanting to be close to me since I work and we are apart during the day. Averi is very good at taking 2-3 naps a day as well. Overall she is a really good sleeper.

Another big accomplishment that Averi has made since she turned six months old is sitting up, quite well, on her own. She still falls over from time to time but at least she has gotten the hang up sitting straight up instead of her back leaning completely horizontally like she was doing before.

The best milestone so far has to be her first words! She says Mama & Dada often now and seems very proud of herself when she does. I swear she has been saying Mama when she cries since she was about two months old. Dada is a new one though and she definitely says it more often than Mama.

Things Averi enjoys doing to pass the time are the Jumparoo, sitting in her high chair playing with toys and eating of course, bath time with lots of kicking and nursing! She hasn't met a food she hasn't like yet...she gobbles it all up as fast as she can. Things she has eaten so far are green beans, applesauce, pears, sweet potatoes, squash and bananas. This next week she'll try peas, carrots and peaches. We have been giving her a sippy cup with water at mealtimes too. A funny {but annoying for me} thing that she does when she is eating is tries to suck on the bib. As of yet I haven't been able to feed her a complete meal with a bib on because it distracts her from eating.

So far we have yet to witness Averi rolling from her belly to her back. Arielle said she saw her do it one time in the crib but there has been no sign that she has done this any other time. Averi still gets a little aggrevated with playtime on her tummy but she is getting more and more used to it. I have a feeling that once she starts being able to roll from her belly to her back she will stop the night waking for good. She is doing a very good job at "standing" and has tremendous leg strength although there has been no sign of her starting to crawl or even scoot. I'm really not in a rush for this to happen anyway because we still need to baby-proof two sets of steps.

Way to go, Bear! We are all looking forward to what the next six months will bring!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Bug is Five!

2010-04-07T21:26:00.007-06:00

It's still hard to believe but my first baby girl turned 5 years old today! I could tell when I picked her up after work that she had a very special day at school. For starters, she got to wear her pink sequin tierra headband all day long! I asked her if they did anything special for her since it was her birthday and she told me they served her a cupcake with sprinkles, her class sang the birthday song to her AND she got a goody bag which the "birthday man" hid for her to find. When she got home Daddy surprised her with balloons then off they went to the airport to pick up Gaby. Then it was my turn to surprise her...this time with another sprinkled cupcake! Tonight before she went to bed she told me, "Thank you for the special cupcake, I love you!" It was so sweet and so "big-kid-like".

Arielle has grown up so much in the past year. We are proud of her for so many reasons. She is a kind, caring soul that is very good at making friends. She loves her baby sister with all of her heart and is so good at talking/playing with her. She gets excited to help her Mommy and Daddy and constantly tells us how much she loves us. She truly amazes us with her desire to learn and ability to learn quickly. I'm going to miss the younger years but at the same time I'm looking forward to the next phase of her life....grade school, crushes, best friends. How exciting to share all of this with her!

Happy 5th Birthday...we love you, Bug!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Final Touches for Averi's Nursery

2010-04-06T14:08:00.011-06:00

In the past six months I have spent many hours in Averi's room which has been plenty of time to decide what works and doesn't work as far as the decorations are concerned. One of the things that I liked the least was how the wall art was hanging by nails above the crib. So when I found these cute "glass knob" picture hangers that matched the wall shelf we already had I couldn't pass them up. Not only are the pictures more secured to the wall now but they look soooooo much better! The only other changes I made were rearranging the accessories on the bookcase and wall shelf. I also used some more brown paint on a couple of picture frames that I already had so that I could tie the room together with brown accents. I added the white and brown polka dots to the AVERI letters above the closet before Averi was born {with every last ounce of energy that I had left in me}.

Later this week I'll share my "magnetic" chalkboard project that I made for this room out of materials I had laying around the house. It turned out great!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

My Easter Peeps

2010-04-04T20:37:00.004-06:00

We all had a wonderful Easter this year! The girls really enjoyed their baskets. I asked Arielle her favorite thing about the day and she said, "Spending time with you and Grandmom and Grandpop and the eggs." Yesterday we went to an Egg Hunt in the neighborhood so she got to bring home some plastic eggs which she hid all around the house and kept making everyone look for them. Her favorite one is half green and half dark pink. She is so easily amused!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

A New BIGGER Bed

2010-04-01T21:00:00.007-06:00

The time had come for us to buy a new mattress and we both liked the idea of upgrading to a king size bed. Without much hesitation we went shopping and found a great iron frame bed that I fell in love with. It is similar to a Pottery Barn bed but instead of silver like the PB one it is gunmetal toned. Plus the price tag was practically half as much as PB so I couldn't resist!

We also purchased new nightstands that match our existing dresser. We found them at the furniture store clearance outlet for almost half of the retail price and there is nothing wrong with them! The new nightstands provide lots of storage because they each have three drawers.

Of course, we also had to buy all new linens, including a down comforter and cover which we splurged on and got one from Pottery Barn {it was on sale but still ridiculously expensive to say the least}. The thing I like most about the new duvet cover is the tropical pattern. There wasn't a big variety of comforters to choose from that would match our blue wall and brown curtains so I lucked out with this one. Plus I like the punches of red that it adds to the room. In fact I have been trying to find new all art for above the bed that has the same color red in it.

The new bed although wider than our old bed, made the room look a lot bigger since it was over 8 inches shorter {quite an adjustment for my 6'3" husband}. We replaced the slipper chair next to the window with a bench at the foot of the bed. We used the bench from the guest room because we couldn't find one as long as it anywhere {we already purchased a new leather bench for the guest room that has hidden storage}.

Lastly, we found a large silver framed mirror at Home Goods to put in the corner where the chair used to be. The mirror makes the room feel bigger and brighter.

I am so happy we decided to upgrade to a KING size bed!

See BEFORE photos of this room here

***LINKY PARTIES***Cottage Instincts***The CSI Project***

~Desiree~

Friday Pics

2010-03-26T08:51:00.005-06:00

Averi is getting so big and really starting to interact a whole lot more with us. She has been holding herself up much better in the high chair and the bath tub but still falls over when sitting on the floor. She has started blowing raspberries, or at least trying, and one of her favorite things to do is kick a lot in the tub! She is slowly beginning to enjoy tummy time a little more and pretty much sleeps on her tummy every time she goes to bed. She has gotten down to waking up to eat only once a night and has been going between 5-6 hours between feedings. We have been letting her "cry it out" if she wakes up less than 5 hours from a feeding and that is working out as well as can be. I can't believe she will be six months one week from today!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

7.5 hours

2010-03-18T08:41:00.004-06:00

Averi slept through the night again...she went 7.5 hours without eating! She did wake up crying one time and went back to sleep in about half the amount of time compared to the night before. I am so proud of her! She is still rolling over onto her belly about half the time to sleep but she is not enjoying tummy time at all. The second we put her down on her back to play she'll roll right over then start to fuss, a lot! At this point it is hard to imagine her starting to crawl anytime soon. Arielle was just starting to scoot around at this age and she was completely crawling right after she turned six months. Averi is also starting to spread out her feedings during the day to between four and five hours most of the time, especially when she is not around me. Her naps are starting to fall into a pattern as well, although I can say that I haven't done anything as far as putting her on a schedule. She is just such a good baby that I don't have to worry about that with her! We're all enjoying Averi more and more every day. She loves to play with her toys now and bounce on the Jumparoo. She even makes a lot of cute baby noises in the car and hardly ever cries when we are driving anymore. She is still working on sitting up on her own but we have moved her from the Bumbo to a highchair for her cereal feedings.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Why yesterday was a good day

2010-03-17T12:44:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was a good day! It all started when I got home from work and almost immediately after I walked through the door Averi started to cry. Why is this a good thing? Because it means that she missed me and she was happy to see me and wanted me to give her attention. I held her tight and felt all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that she feels this way about me.

After that Arielle came out of hiding from her bedroom {which is unusual for her to be alone in there during the day in the first place} and told me to close my eyes because she had a surprise. When I got up to her bedroom door I closed my eyes so she could open it to reveal the surprise. It was a "hair accessory shop" that she set up! She had neatly placed her pretend makeup, hair clips, brushes, mirrors, lip gloss and cell phones around the perimeter of her bench. She also put her "jewel" treasures on it and told me they were different colored hair dyes and asked me if I wanted her to dye my hair. The dye stick was the end of a very large fake flower that she likes to play with. It was too cute and I now wish I had taken a picture of it.

The very best part about yesterday was that Averi {sort of} slept through the night! I had fed her before she went to bed and three hours later just as I was going to bed because she woke up again. This was around 10:30. At about 12:30 she woke up again and I knew she couldn't possibly be hungry so I decided to let her "cry it out" and see what happens. Zak decided to get up and see if she would fall back asleep for him but as usual, this only made her cry harder and the whole time he was holding her she looked around for me. Since holding her didn't make her stop crying he put her back in the crib after a while. She only cried for about five more minutes and then she went back to sleep. Next thing I know I'm waking up to the sound of her crying and I look at the clock to see that it's 5:30 am. She went 7 hours without eating! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this wasn't a one time thing and she'll start sleeping through the night from now on. If not, I think adding baby food to her diet in a couple of weeks when she turns 6 months old will help do the trick.

~Momma to Bug~

What would you do?

2010-03-11T10:01:00.005-07:00

It's ironic that I just found this video after writing my last post.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/03/11/kaye.young.hero.cnn?hpt=C2

What this little boy did to protect himself and his family is truly amazing. Thank goodness nobodywas hurt.

I am rethinking the little white lie that I told Arielle about burglars so she knows how to react if {God forbid} this situation ever happened to us. I've already discussed 9-1-1 with her numerous times but I am thinking that I should go over good hiding places in our home now.
What would you do?

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Dissapearing words and warning signs!

2010-03-11T09:01:00.005-07:00

I love how the 4 year old minds work...if only I could peek inside and see the wheels spinning! Last night Arielle was reading the label on her kids mouthwash bottle {she reads everything in sight these days} and she asked me "When it gets old will the new go away?". I had absolutely NO IDEA what she was talking about so I said "What?" like three times before I finally understood what she was getting at with her question. The label on the mouthwash bottle had the word "NEW" on it so she thought that once the bottle got old that the word would disappear! I then tried to explain why the word was on the label in the first place and the only way that it could "go away" but sort of gave up because it was rather difficult for her to understand. Plus she got distracted by the fact that the label was removable and all she could think about was getting it off so she could have a new sticker!

A few days ago she also asked me why there was a sign that said "BEWARE OF DOG" on somebodys fence. It wasn't hard to explain why but this came just days after she asked me if burglars are real or pretend {just in books}. I had to lie about this one and there is a good reason for this. When I was a child I had a reoccuring nightmare about somebody breaking into our house. I didn't want this to happen to her. Do you blame me?

~Momma to Bug n'Bear~

Spreading the love

2010-03-09T15:06:00.005-07:00

We took these pictures on Valentine's Day but I never ended up doing a post. Today I decided to spread the love!

I may never know what it is like to have a sister but I can feel the love between Arielle and Averi and it amazes me!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Averi ~ 5 Months Old

2010-03-03T15:06:00.005-07:00

Here is Averi on the day she turned 5 months old...she is just as smiley as ever! The day after this Averi rolled over on her tummy in her crib and slept that way for most of the night. She doesn't like being on her tummy so much so there was one time that I had to go in her room and roll her onto her back to stop her from crying. Averi is now eating rice cereal twice a day but despite that she is still waking up every 3-5 hours to eat throughout the night. Most of the time Averi is a very happy baby, especially when her older sister is around to entertain her. At home when Averi is not napping spends time in her exersaucer, jumparoo and on her playmats. We try to get her to do tummy time but it never lasts longer than a few minutes and always ends with her soaking the floor from face-planting! Averi is very good about going to sleep on her own and only cries for a few minutes when we put her down unless she is really tired than she doesn't cry at all. She does have a little temper to speak of though and it really shows when you are holding her and she doesn't feel like being held. When this happens she arches her back and grunts and her face turns red. Averi really enjoys getting up on her feet and practicing her stands. When she is laying down and she hears the word "up" she gets a very big smile on her face and knows exactly what is coming next! I just love the pouty face that Averi makes and I can't help but laugh whenever she makes it. One of these days I'll try to get a picture of her making it because it is so cute. We're hoping Averi will be able to sit up on her own in the next few weeks so we can start feeding her in a high chair instead of the Bumbo seat. Zak, Arielle and I are so much in love with this little girl!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

A Weekend Full of Firsts

2010-03-01T09:31:00.008-07:00

Averi had a lot of Firsts this weekend...

After making a few prior attempts at getting her to eat rice cereal {this time we added some breast milk} she finally took a liking to it and gobbled every last bite and then some. I can't wait to start feeding her baby food in a few weeks. That was one of my favorite things to do with Arielle when she was a baby.

The weather got into the fifties and the sun was out so Averi enjoyed some time on the baby swing in our backyard while Arielle had a playdate with her friend from school.

We also put up the Jumparoo for Averi this weekend {we officially look like we set up a baby store in our living room}. She didn't do any bouncing but she did enoy the activities with lights and sounds that are on it. This was one of Arielle's favorite things to do when she was Averi's age. I think Averi is just more cautious than her older sister but I have no doubt once she discovers bouncing she will love it!

Averi has rolled onto her tummy from her back a couple of times in the past week but once she gets on her tummy she just gets frustrated and fusses. I don't think she enjoys being on her tummy which is why she isn't rolling more. This is completely opposite from Arielle when she was a baby because Arielle started sleeping on her tummy {rolling over on her own will} when she was three months old.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Can't get enough

2010-02-25T10:44:00.003-07:00

Of this sweet face...

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Remember this...

2010-02-18T09:02:00.005-07:00

This morning Arielle had this to say about jumping out of an airplane:

"If you jump out of an airplane and you don't have a parachute, you might land in the middle of the street and get hit by a car and hurt yourself."

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Making do with a space in my house

2010-02-15T13:48:00.004-07:00

When I read Carrie's post today I couldn't help but be inspired to do my own. I have been in the process of redecorating/repurposing this one little space in my house that has always perplexed me. It is the empty space next to our very large entertainment center in the living room. Just around the corner from this wall is the garage door entry to our house and the wall is across from our eat-in kitchen. Previously I had a basket/bench for toy storage and extra seating in between the entertainment center and a very small telephone table. This set up always bothered me and I never really took a liking to it. So when I found this large console table I had to buy it so I could make over this space.

Now I have an entirely new problem...how to decorate it! I know that it needs to be childproof and have lots of {hidden} storage. I am on the hunt for the perfect accessories and baskets. It's a slow process but I'll get there eventually.

~Momma to Bug~

Splish Splash!

2010-02-09T08:23:00.003-07:00

Averi is really starting to enjoy her baths! Yesterday was the first time she splashed around and she really got into it! What makes me laugh is that even when she is having fun she is very serious...just look at the expression on her face. We're going to have to start putting her bath in the big tub instead of the sink because she got the counters and cabinets soaking wet.

One of these days we'll remember not to take the video sideways...

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

10 things that make me happy

2010-02-03T12:56:00.007-07:00

Nikki at Nikki's Nacs tagged me in this fun blog award!

To accept this award I must list 10 things that make me happy and then pass this award along to more fabulous blogs!

10 Things that make me HAPPY are as follows:

1. Date nights with my husband

2. Girls Night Out with friends

3. Sleeping in

4. When both of my kids are asleep

5. When both of my kids are laughing

6. Getting pampered (haircut, pedicures, etc.)

7. Days off of work

8. Weekends

9. Starbucks

10. Shopping

Now pass it on:

Sweet Pea and Beans
Mommy + Me
Baby Cerm is on the Way!
Bam Bam's World
Little Man on the Go!
3 Peas in a Pod

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

It's our anniversary {on every Groundhog's Day!}

2010-02-02T11:04:00.003-07:00

It's been 7 years since I married this wonderful man...

And since I know I don't tell him enough, he is such a terrific father and husband. Love you, PBE!

~BBD~

Averi's Smile

2010-02-02T10:06:00.004-07:00

Seeing this every morning makes me one happy Momma!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Hand Stamped Personalized Necklace

2010-02-01T14:50:00.003-07:00

I treated myself to my very first hand stamped, personalized necklace from Noel Charms on Etsy. Lisa must have knew I was anxious to see my necklace because she sent me a picture of it before she mailed it. I can't wait to wear it! You should check out her store because she has a big variety of jewelry available and her prices are very reasonable. Please tell her I sent you.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Arielle's Art

2010-01-29T11:13:00.004-07:00

I am so happy we have this magnet board so I can display my favorite pieces of Arielle's artwork. My latest favorite is the "Tinkerbell" picture on the upper right side. It is hard to tell from the picture but the wings are very detailed and she wrote the name with outlined block letters. The second picture below that with her name written so nicely on lined paper is of her and a moose playing ball in a rain storm. So cute! The picture that is on yellow construction paper next to Tinkerbell is of the "Incredibles" family. She made this one several months ago when she first started getting into drawing. Notice Elastigirl's stretchy arms that go all over the paper! Just below that is her first "book" that she ever wrote. It's her version of "Are You My Mother" and it flows over to the back side. Right under her book is a beautiful drawing of a field of flowers that she made for me followed by a coloful picture of the "Train to Pre-K" that she made at school just before she started her new class. Just thought I'd share some happiness for the day!

~Momma to Bug~

The Very Hungry Caterpiller, as written and illustrated by Arielle

2010-01-28T09:17:00.006-07:00

On the way home from picking the girls up yesterday Arielle told me she was going to make a book. She said, "It begans with a T and ends with an R." It's called "The Very Hungry Caterpiller." The second that we got home she sat right down at the kitchen table and began making it. First she cut out the pages from a notebook and asked if anyone had a stapler. Then she made a title page naming herself as the Author and Illustrator. She knew both of these words go on the title page of a book {I had to help her spell them} but she had to ask the meaning of the word Illustrator. She remembered how to spell the word Catepiller all by herself. I helped her along with spelling on a few of the words but she did a pretty good job guessing at some of them herself. My favorite part of the story is on page six....see if you can figure out why!

I hope you enjoyed my four year old's version of Eric Carle's book, "The Very Hungry Caterpiller"

~Momma to Bug~